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STUPID
05/06/2010
About twenty years ago, I had the misfortune of meeting two young men who, thanks to many years of alcohol and drug abuse, probably had a combined IQ of 100. Yet their favorite thing to call someone who didn’t agree with them, didn’t give them everything they wanted, or arrested them when they broke the law, was “stupid.”
I’m seeing this word thrown around a lot these days by Republicans, and especially by teabaggers. I see good ole boys on television saying “You can’t fix stupid” whenever they talk about President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Democrats or liberals. They think this is clever-- and original--the way everyone used to say “24-7” or “the best thing since sliced bread.” I’ve heard it so many times, it’s become a cliché, though I probably would have to explain what a cliché is to these people.
I got a chain email today with that phrase about “stupid” in the subject line, sent by someone who admitted her dislike of Barack Obama.
Here was the email exactly as I received it, including poor grammar and punctuation, and portions in caps:
THIS HAS GOT TO BE THE MOST OUTRAGEOUS STATEMENT EVER MADE BY A PUBLIC OFFICIAL LET ALONE BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES... AND THIS GUY IS OUR "COMMANDER IN CHIEF".
THIS IS THE MOST UNBELIEVABLE PRESIDENT?
HERE IS HIS RESPONSE WHEN HE BACKED OFF FROM HIS
DECISION TO REQUIRE THE MILITARY PAY FOR THEIR WAR INJURIES:
Bad press, including major mockery of the plan by
comedian Jon Stewart, led to President Obama abandoning his proposal to require veterans carry private health insurance to cover the estimated $540 million annual cost to the federal government of treatment for injuries to military personnel received during their tours on active duty. The President admitted that he was puzzled by the magnitude of the opposition to his proposal.
"Look, it's an all volunteer force," Obama complained.
"Nobody made these guys go to war. They had to have known and accepted the risks. Now they whine about bearing the costs of their choice? It doesn't compute.." "I thought these were people who were proud to sacrifice for their country, "Obama continued "I wasn't asking for blood, just money. With the country facing the worst financial crisis in its history, I'd have thought that the patriotic thing to do would be to try to help reduce the nation's deficit. I guess I underestimated the selfishness of some of my fellow Americans."
Please pass this on to every one including every vet and
their families whom you know. How in the world did a person
with this mindset become our leader?
REMEMBER THIS STATEMENT... "Nobody made these guys go to
war. They had to have known and accepted the risks. Now they whine about bearing the costs of their choice?"
If he thinks he will ever get another vote from an
Active Duty, Reserve, National Guard service member or veteran of a
military service he ought to think it over... If you, or a family member is, or has served their country please pass this to them.
Please pass this to everyone.
I'm guessing that other than the 20-25 percent hardcore
liberals in the US will agree that this is just another example why this is the worst president in American history. Remind everyone over and over how this man thinks, while he bows to the Saudi Arabian king.
Okay, end of email.
It only took one minute to fact-check it online, with a non-partisan website (factcheck.org)-- a project of the Annenberg Center at the University of Pennsylvania. They completely debunked it, pegging it as a made-up quotation taken from a satirical column in a conservative magazine in Arizona. Here’s the link: http://www.factcheck.org/2009/05/would-obama-have-soldiers-pay-for-own-war-injuries/index.html
Then I sent a reply in which I let the person who forwarded the eamil know how disappointed I was that she would pass this on without checking out its validity. I also told her that the subject line of the email, “You can’t fix stupid,” was rather appropriate, in that the person who created the email obviously didn't understand satire (or perhaps deliberately misunderstood it). Anyone with a lick of common sense, and an understanding of hyperbole, would have been able to tell it was satire just from the writing. C'mon -- "I wasn't asking for blood, just money?" -- This is not how the president speaks.
And, of course, what’s particularly galling about this is that it was the Bush administration that treated returning veterans so poorly, cutting off their military care -- veterans returning from Bush's war that was based on an actual lie, not a manufactured one.
I also told her I don’t understand the hostility to this man--not just disagreement with his policies, but outright hatred--evidenced by the lies that circulate on the radio and in email chains. I asked her to check her facts more carefully and, if after reading the link she agrees the email is in error, to contact everyone she forwarded it to, and correct the mistake.
Even if she does it, though, I doubt it will make any difference. Those who hate Obama to this degree don’t hate him because of his policies, or because of anything factual. They are willing to believe anything negative that is said about him, without even fact-checking it. They want to believe the worst because then they can openly attack him without being accused of the hatred they feel for something having nothing to do with his policies. They hate him because they fear him, because he is the "other," and they fear him because he’s black. Barack Obama, as the first dark-skinned president, appeals to the tribalism and paranoia that many whites have against anyone who is not like them in some obvious characteristic -- like skin color. I have no doubt that had Hillary Clinton become president, this segment of the population would have afforded her similar treatment, because of her gender. I can think of no other explanation to account for the vile lies of those who send out such emails than prejudice and parnoia towards someone who is unlike any other president. Underneath all prejudice, misogyny, tribalism and racism are ignorance, fear and guilt, and these people have it in abundance.
Nope, you can’t fix ignorance and racism.
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